Joey's
by pedal
Summary: I hate songfics. This is not one. Jounouchi is at Mai's bedside on the Battle City Blimp when he hears My Immortal on the CD Shizuka lent him. Okay...it's almost a songfic. They still suck. So does this. Oneshot JouMai


Joey's

Written: January 2004

Disclaimer: If lawyers have enough money to buy actual reading materials, they wouldn't be here! Foo. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Evanescence's "My Immortal."

Author's note: This will either be super sad or super sappy.

Joey's

by Pedal

She was so pretty that I still couldn't believe it. I was so bored that that was my only coherent thought. She's so pretty.

I suppose I was more tired than bored, having done nothing for the past two hours but sit in an uncomfortable chair watching over Mai as if a particle of dust would detonate on the spot if one was to fall onto her porcelain skin. Not that I didn't want to watch her... Maybe I was just tired and bored.

Hell, screw them. I was tweaked. As if it wasn't bad enough that Marik went and sent her mind to the Shadow Realm, I was stuck being kept awake by Kaiba's personal stash of 2-liters, compliments of Mokuba, and a CD with semi-interesting songs by a band I didn't really know. Evanescence, Serenity said. I had already exhausted any other albums by anyone we could find. How could I care that much, anyway? Mai was in critical condition, here! Well, I suppose I could lay down next to her and pull her into my arms and get away with it, but I had such luck that would get me caught red-handed by someone who happened to be awake. Ah, it was still nice to dream.

This lead singer-girl sounded more than talented; she had a voice that could probably melt Kaiba with a sweet enough song. It sounded familiar, too. I know it's stupid, but she sounded like Mai when Mai sang. Think about it! Just try to disagree! See? Sappy song coming up...

I reached for the button on the stereo (a really nice wall-installed dealie) to switch the CD to track five, but stopped as the first, clear lyrics came out, sounding more like Mai (to me, at least) than the three songs before it. The song was slow and most likely sad. "I'm so tired of being here, suppressed by all my childish fears." Dissing herself, sounding trapped. What the hell?

Since its main instrument was a piano, I guessed it wouldn't get much faster. I listened, trying with all my might to focus. "And if you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave 'cause your presence still lingers here, and it won't leave me alone." I remembered what Marik had said about the images of her friends taunting her. Right then, she saw me being happy without her. A sharp tug; my heart wrenched. She probably hated me right then.

"These wounds won't seem to heal. This pain is just too real. There's just too much that time can not erase." I wasn't getting anything out of this. Anything good, anyway. My hands found their way to my chest, gripping painfully at my heart. I heard a footstep in the hallway and ignored it.

My eyes overflowed with hot tears, every part of me hurting. The next verse got a violent shudder out of me. "When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears." Then I knew it was Yugi in the doorway. "When you screamed I'd fight away all of your fears."

"Gah," I sobbed, lurching forward in my seat. I clenched my teeth together and unsuccessfully attempted to contain myself. What the hell was wrong with me? With this song? Was I just paranoid and heard what I wanted to, or was it a sick coincidence? Suddenly I remembered Duelist Kingdom, when Mai had given me her handkerchief with the card inside to stop my crying. Then there were my nightmare monsters that vanished when she came.

"And I held your hand through all of these years, but you still have all of me." Yugi walked into the small room, and I could tell he was hesitating to come in too far. He was probably scared I'd bite his shoulder off if he got too close. I knew he knew better. He came closer, but veered off in the direction of the stereo. " You used to captivate me by your resonating mind. Now I'm bound by the life you left behind."

"No!" I screamed when he reached for the stop button. He froze and I turned to look at him, my hands falling from my chest. Through a fierce blur of tears, I saw my best friend pouting at me, genuinely concerned.

"Your face, it haunts my once pleasant dreams. Your voice, it chased away all the sanity in me." More blows to my heart caused me to bite down on my bottom lip and bury my face in my shaking hands. I felt Yugi's on my shoulders, squeezing them. Falling forward out of the chair and onto my knees, I wrapped my arms around Yugi, probably scaring the crap out of him. My chin rested on his shoulder, which shifted slightly as he returned my hug, dropping his head onto my shoulder as well.

The chorus, wiping away tears and fighting away fears. Those were among the hardest words to listen to without screaming. Once or twice more, it was repeated with only a few new words. "I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone. But though you're still with me, I've been alone all along."

If I could only tell Mai she had us. That she had me (assuming she cared). Out of all of my buddies, she had been without true friends for the longest time. When she finally was confident that we loved and cared for her, some psychopath had to take that away from her. It was so damn sappy I wanted to kill myself. I missed her, that's all, but it hurt like a bitch.

"God, Yug', I... She..." I was still bawling like a baby. Yugi pulled back, holding me at arms' length.

"What, Joey," he asked real calmly. There were fresh tearstains on his face, but he looked way more composed than I did. "What is it," he whispered.

Yugi was always the best with getting stuff out of people. "I need her so god-damn much!" I screamed. My next sentence was a hoarse whisper, mulled by my cries, "You know how much I love her," I looked at her, then back at Yugi, who had since taken back his arms.

Standing on his tip-toes, he went to a nearby closet to grab a spare pillow. Dropping it on the bed, by Mai's torso, Yugi told me, "You need sleep." And then he left, shutting the door.

The dimness of the room increased, but I managed to find the off button of the stereo. Dropping to my knees, then ass, I laid my head on the pillow at Mai's side, mumbling something about getting her out of this mess.

"As soon as she wakes up, I'm tellin' her."


End file.
